India's 15 most-read newspapers

Dainik Jagran leads the overall dailies and Hindi dailies lists, according to quarterly Indian Readership Survey by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

According to the IRS Q1 2010, Dainik Jagran ranks No. 1 among the dailies with a Total Readership (TR) of 54,254,000. In the last round (R2, 2009), it had gained around 200,000 readers, but in this round it has lost around 500,000 readers.

Dainik Jagran was founded in 1942 by the late Puran Chand Gupta, to 'create a newspaper that would reflect the free voice of the people'. The first edition of Dainik Jagran was launched from Jhansi.

Today, Dainik Jagran has 37 editions across eleven states. Run by the Jagran Prakashan Ltd, the company's business spans across newspapers, Internet, magazines and mobile value added services.

The company's newspapers include Dainik Bhaskar, (Hindi), Divya Bhaskar and Saurashtra Samachar, (Gujarati). Other newspapers are Business Bhaskar, DB Gold and DB Star and DNA (in Gujarat and Rajasthan). Dainik Bhaskar added around 400,000 total readers in the current round. It had lost 590,000 readers in the previous round of the survey.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

Amar Ujala stands at the fourth position with a readership of 28,720,000. Amar Ujala was launched on April 18, 1948 from Agra.

It is a leading newspaper in Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi. Amar Ujala also offers four magazines. In the current survey, the paper has lost around 300,000 readers.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Marathi daily Lokmat comes at the fifth position with a readership of 23,276,000. Lokmat is also the highest read regional daily.

Lokmat was conceptualised and started by Loknayak Bapuji Aney to fight against the British imperialism during the freedom movement of India. It first started as a handwritten newspaper from Yavatmal, a town in Maharashtra.

The late Jawaharlal Darda took over this fortnightly published newspaper in 1953. Jawaharlal Nehru formally inaugurated Lokmat as a daily publication at Yavatmal in 1958. On December 15, 1971, the first full-fledged edition was started from Nagpur.

The newspaper which added about 1 million readers in the previous two rounds has added 100,000 readers in the current round. Today, the paper has editions in Hindi and English.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Tamil newspaper Daily Thanthi is ranked 6th with a total readership of 20,305,000. Owned by Sivanthi Athithan, it was the first daily newspaper in southern India at the time of the Indian freedom struggle. It was established by Adithanar, a pioneer in the media industry of Tamil Nadu.

Dinakaran

Dinakaran is ranked 7th among the most read newspapers in India. It received a TR of 16,741,000. Owned by Kalanidhi Maran, Dinakaran is a leading Tamil daily newspaper in India with 12 editions.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Ananda Bazar Patrika stands at the 8th position with a total readership of 15,318,000.

Started as an evening paper in March 1922, Ananda Bazar Patrika soon grew to become the 'voice of Bengal'. It is the only Bengali daily to cross 1.5 million in circulation.

Ananda Bazar Patrika has two editions from Calcutta and Mumbai. In addition, it has seven district splits within West Bengal. In 1922, Ananda Bazar Patrika first came out as a four-page evening daily that sold at two paise and had a circulation of about 1,000 copies a day.

The ABP Group, which owns the paper has eleven premier publications, three 24-hour national TV news channels and two leading book publishing businesses as well as mobile and internet properties.

Eenadu

Eenadu, a Telugu newspaper, is in fifth position among regional language players with a TR of 14,726,000, it is the 9th most read paper in India. Founded by the Indian media baron Ramoji Rao in 1974, it is the largest circulated news daily in Andhra Pradesh.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

Rajasthan Patrika with a total readership of 14,205,000 is the 10th most read newspaper in India.

The 52-year-old Rajasthan Patrika started as an evening newspaper with a borrowed capital of Rs 500. Today, it has grown as the fastest growing media conglomerates in India. Rajsthan Patrika established in 1956, is the fifth most-read Hindi daily in India.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Times of India which tops the English dailies chart is the 11th most read across all languages. Owned by Bennett, Coleman & Co, it is the flagship company of The Times Group, which has been in existence for 150 years.

The Times Group's business spans across newspapers and magazines, television broadcasting, running internet portals, creating and distributing multimedia products and music publishing and retailing. The media conglomerate is headed by brothers Samir and Vineet Jain.

The group has five dailies, two magazines, 29 niche magazines. Founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, it changed its name to The Times of India in 1861.

Among English dailies, The Times of India has received a TR of 13,447,000, which puts it at No. 1 spot. However, it has lost about 85,000 readers in the current round. However, The Times of India continues to be the leader in Mumbai, followed by Mumbai Mirror.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

Hindustan Times is the second most read English daily and the 12th among all newspapers with a total readership of 6,254,000.

In Delhi, Hindustan Times tops among English dailies and is well ahead of The Times of India. According to the Average Issue Readership of Hindustan Times in Delhi stands at 2,012,000, while The Times of India comes second with an AIR of 1,948,000.

HT Media also publishes a national business newspaper, Mint with an exclusive agreement with the Wall Street Journal to publish WSJ-branded news and information in India.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Hindu is ranked third among English dailies with a total readership of 5,140,000. In the last two years, the daily has lost about 411,000 readers after it started facing competition from Times of India and Deccan Chronicle in Chennai.

The Hindu which started off as a weekly in 1878, became a daily newspaper from 1889. The Hindu is based in Chennai with thirteen editions.

The first issue of The Hindu was published on 20 September, 1878, by a group of six young men, led by G. Subramania Aiyer, a social reformer and school teacher.

India's 15 most-read newspapers

The Telegraph is ranked fourth with a total readership 2,877,000. The Telegraph has moved up from its fifth position with an addition of 77,000 readers.

The Telegraph was launched on the 7 July, 1982, by the ABP group of publications. Over 26 years, The Telegraph has become the largest circulated English daily in the eastern region published from Kolkata.

The Telegraph is also published from Guwahati, Siliguri, Jamshedpur, and Ranchi.

Deccan Chronicle

Deccan Chronicle follows at No. 5 among English dailies with a total readership of 2,816,000. Deccan Chronicle has editions in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The paper established in Hyderabad in 1938 is owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. The group is managed by brothers, Venkatram Reddy and T Vinayak Ravi Reddy. The group also owns IPL franchisee, Deccan Chargers. The company has a business daily called Financial Chronicle and a majority stake in Asian Age newsaper.

The Economic Times is at the 6th position while The New Indian Express is at No7 among English dailies. The last three in the top 10 list of English dailies are: Mid-Day, Mumbai Mirror and DNA.

Image: People reading The Telegrpah newspaper.Photographs: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters